I'll Walk
by I.Dream.Of.Hardyz
Summary: ... We were 18, it was prom night. We had our first big fight... It was a dark night, a black dress. Driver never saw her around the bend... One accident changes everything for one couple. Jeff/Beth ONE-SHOT to Bucky Covington's "I'll Walk."


**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**Author's Note:** This song is one of the saddest songs ever. But I love it nonetheless and I think it makes for a good story. It's Jeff/Beth obviously and I think... well yeah. I hope y'all enjoy it. Please read and review. Enjoy!

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_We were 18, it was prom night.  
We had our first big fight.  
She said "Pull this car over".  
I did and then I told her, "I don't know what you are crying for".  
I grabbed her hand, as she reached for the door._

"Prom night," Beth said, smiling at her reflection in the car mirror while her boyfriend drove toward their school. "Finally."

Jeff smiled at her and the excitement in her eyes. "You girls and prom night," he teased.

She shoved him and pouted, pulling a hand through her hair, without getting much for results. Her hair was so flat; she hated it at times. Even though her friend had tried everything to make it look good, she knew it still looked like crap. "My hair," she muttered, staring at it with disgust. "I look horrible."

Jeff looked at her. "It's not bad."

She rolled her eyes. "You're supposed to say you look beautiful," she snickered. "Jeez, Jeff."

"What?" he asked. "I told the truth."

"I didn't want the truth!"

"Girls," he muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Beth retorted. "I was only joking with you to begin with. You didn't have to get an attitude with me."

"I didn't get an attitude." His words were defensive and he rolled his eyes, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "You really need to calm down." Soon enough, the little argument blew into a huge fight over seemingly nothing but false accusations. Little nuisances that the other was trying to bring up just so the opposite would get mad.

Beth was getting very on edge. She had only been joking earlier, and now Jeff had brought this to something huge. She hated that about him; he took everything so seriously and could never take a joke. It really irked her. Jeff, however, was sick of his beautiful girlfriend degrading herself and then calling him out when she wasn't perfect either. She expected him to be so and he wasn't. Jeff couldn't just read her mind and expect everything he said to be right, so he told her this.

"I can't believe you," Beth snapped. "I never said you were perfect."

"You try to mold me into a perfect little boyfriend everyday," he growled angrily. "And I'm really sick of being the boyfriend to the biggest bitch on Earth."

_She said, I'll walk.  
Let go of my hand.  
Right now I'm hurt, and you don't understand.  
So just be quiet.  
And later we will talk.  
Just leave, don't worry.  
I'll walk._

A sickening silence overcame the old truck as the words were absorbed into their mind. "Pull the car over."

"What?" Jeff asked in disbelief. "We're almost to the fucking school. It's prom, Beth."

"You heard me," she said as she began to wipe some falling tears from her eyes. "Pull this car over."

Jeff looked at her but she wouldn't look back. With a shake of his angered head, he swerved the car toward the side and then parked it. "I don't know what you're crying for…" I mumbled.

She went to open the door, but Jeff locked it from the other side, trying to stop her now. It was such a dark night and he couldn't remain angry with her. As demanding as she could be, he loved her and what she was trying to do wasn't safe.

"Beth, please… It's dark. Just let me take you home."

"I'll walk," she replied without emotion. "I'm hurt and you obviously don't understand. So just be quiet and later we'll talk."

"Beth—"

"Just leave," Beth said louder. "Don't worry, I'll walk."

Beth grabbed the loose part of her black dress and stepped out of the truck, slamming the door behind her. Jeff sat there, hoping she would open the door and smile at him, but he quickly found she was serious. With a sigh, he pulled away, watching in the rearview mirror as Beth wiped her eyes and put her face in her hands.

_It was a dark night, a black dress.  
Driver never saw her, around the bend.  
I never will forget the call, or driving to the hospital  
when they told me her legs still wouldn't move.  
I cried, when I walked into her room._

Jeff didn't go to prom that night. He found with Beth angry at him, he had no place being there. His brother – home from college already – was in the living room watching TV, laughing obnoxiously, as if he knew the crummy mood that Jeff was in.

The ceiling wasn't entertaining, he quickly found. He had been staring at it for what seemed like hours, making shapes out nothing and wishing for a phone call from Beth, telling them they would talk like she promised. He didn't want to break up with her. Whatever she wanted him to do… but he wouldn't let her break up with him. No matter how angry she was.

But what was she angry for? He was just a guy. He made mistakes. A little anger rose inside of him. "I'm human," he agreed out loud. "She needs to remember that."

Somewhere near Matt, their house phone rang. The annoying ring ran through Jeff's head as he stumbled to his feet, sure that Matt wouldn't get his lazy ass off the couch to answer it. When he answered the phone, there was plenty of static and noises that were familiar which he couldn't place.

"Hello?"

"I need to speak with Jeffrey Hardy, please."

"I'm Jeff Hardy… how can I help you?"

"We're calling you from Vass Memorial Hospital. Your girlfriend Beth Britt was in an accident. She asked for a nurse to call you. Are you able to get to the hospital?"

Jeff's heart nearly stopped beating and he dropped the phone from the shock. _I should have never left her. It's all my fault. If I would have been smart and not listened to her, she'd be okay…_ When he finally realized that Beth was hurt, he grabbed his keys and raced to his car and to the hospital.

He'd hated the hospital since a kid. After seeing his mother die there, there was nothing worse then walking into an emergency room with similar feeling of dread in your stomach. He ran to the information desk and pounded down on the counter. "Beth Britt," he demanded to the young woman before him. "I need to see her. Now."

"Name?"

"Jeff Hardy," he snapped. "Her boyfriend. She called for me…"

"Ah," the woman mumbled. "Go through the doors and take a right down the first hallway. She's in room 5A."

Jeff didn't even thank the room as he shoved the doors open and jogged down that hallway, stopping short in front of the room labeled 5A. He took a deep breath and peeked inside, enough to see his girlfriend tied up to many machines with her parents by her side.

They were going to be so angry with him. Beth's father, a lawyer was going to kill him. It didn't even matter if Beth still hated him anymore: her father was the bigger problem.

But not the biggest.

Beth looked so broken and he hated that. And even though his father had told him all his life that big boys don't cry, he found himself breaking down as he stumbled into her room, surprising her parents with his arrival. Her once pretty face was covered with bruises and cuts, the only thing that wasn't touched were those usually sparkling eyes covered with her eyelids.

"Oh God," he moaned. "I … I'm sorry, Mr. Britt. Mrs. Britt. I'm so sorry…"

"Jeff," Mrs. Britt said first, coming over to hug him. She was a nice woman but he could see the absolute terror in her eyes. "I'm so glad you came. She's been asking for you."

Mr. Britt, always to the point, stepped over. His face was surprisingly not angry. "Her legs won't move, Son. They think she's paralyzed, Jeff."

Jeff felt his own legs collapse as he broke down on the dirty hospital floor, sobbing like a child. He held himself as the realization dawned on him all over again. He did this to her. He couldn't be the good boyfriend like he was supposed to so now Beth would never walk again… it was all Jeff's fault.

"Jeff," a voice said – Beth's.

He nearly began to sob again; it was so good to hear her voice. "Beth?" With an embarrassed look, he stood slowly and walked closer to her bed. Under the bruises, he saw her eyes open and her lips part to speak. A sound didn't come through however and she just sat there while tears of her own began to fall. "Beth…"

"Oh, Jeff," she choked out. "I'm so sorry… I'm so, so sorry. I thought I'd never get the chance to tell you that."

_She said, I'll walk.  
Please come and hold my hand.  
Right now I'm hurt, and I don't understand.  
Lets just be quiet, and later we can talk.  
Please stay, don't worry.  
I'll walk._

"You're sorry?" he whispered. "I'm the idiot. Thanks to me, you'll never walk again."

Beth looked away and sighed. He hated having to look at her body. It was all mangled and broken. Beth was a strong girl, with a intelligent mind and a witty attitude to go with anything. It was killing him to see her so fragile. His girlfriend wasn't that type.

"Come hold my hand," she whispered when he walked over to the window. "Please. I need you. Please come and hold my hand…"

"Beth…"

He did as he was told. "Right now I'm hurt and I don't understand," she explained. "But it's not your fault."

"It is," he demanded. "It is…"

"Let's just be quiet and later we can talk," she repeated for the second time that night. "Please stay… and don't worry. I'll walk…"

_I held her hand through everything._

_The weeks and months of therapy._

_And I held her hand and asked her, to be my bride._

_She's dreamed from a little girl, to have her daddy bring her down the isle._

_So from her wheelchair, she looks up to him and smiles_.

Months went by. Jeff stood by her side and they worked things out. It was hard at first – without the everyday privilege of walking, Beth and Jeff had to find other ways to make things smoother, but they still made it. Beth hadn't walked like she promised – not yet, anyway – and every Monday she had therapy to help her.

He made her days easier, though. Every Friday, they went to see a movie of her choose, and then they had dinner wherever she wanted. He'd buy her the make-up she loved and listened to her when things got rough. He held her trembling hand when she sobbed into his shirt as they laid together on his bed and listened to her heartbeat when she finally fell asleep with dried tears.

But tonight. Tonight was special. His brother and father had gone out for the night and he was picking up Beth for a night of movies at his house. They had ordered her favorite Chinese dishes and he had bought ice cream floats because he knew she loved those as well.

"Thanks," she said as he wheeled her into his house and smiled at the dim lights. "It's not dark though. What's going on?"

He couldn't wait. Originally, he planned on waiting until after dinner and sticking the ring in her fortune cookie before she opened it but the suspense was driving him crazy.

So, he sunk down on one knee and asked her to marry him. And she said yes.

_Three years later_

_And says, I'll walk.  
Please hold my hand.  
I know that this will hurt, I know you understand.  
Please daddy don't cry.  
This is already hard.  
Let's go, don't worry.  
I'll walk._

The ceremony was set to be beautiful. Beth had picked out a certain type of pink flower that filled the church with such a strong, summery scent. Her father was already waiting at the end of the hallway, standing strong. He looked so proud as Beth appeared in her wheelchair – hair looking amazing, too – and they began to make their way down the aisle.

Jeff was crying again, this time happy tears.

They made it there in about a minute. Beth was beaming ear to ear as her father prepared to give her away. Beth had other plans though. When Jeff had been wrestling with his brother, she had been going for an extra therapy session each day. She had worked hard enough that she could walk a few solid steps and was planning on proving herself on her wedding day.

"Daddy," she says as she smiles. "I'll walk."

Her father's look was one from a place she did not recognize fully. It was either pride, or shock, or maybe just a little of both. Nonetheless, he smiled down at her, tears filling his eyes as he helped her to her feet.

"Hold my hand," she instructed as she made sure her footing was right. "It's going to hurt," she told herself, knowing this… "And I know you understand," she said, speaking to God this time.

She glanced at her father as she took the first step, then at her soon-to-be husband. Both were crying tears of joy as she made it to where she would become Mrs. Jeff Hardy.

"Please don't cry," she laughed through her own tears, "this is already hard. Let go… don't worry." Her father looked doubtful as she dropped his hand and took toward her last few steps. One glance backward and she looked at all those watching her with equal expressions. Then, with one wide smile, she looked to Jeff and found she was next to him and he met her lips with his. "I'll walk," she managed to whisper as he held her and they became one.

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**Awwww. I'm a dork. I tried to follow the song as much as I could, so some of the words are exact transfers and all. So yeah. REVIEW!**


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